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Get Back on Track

By

John O. Norquist

Updated Aug. 21, 2002 12:39 a.m. ET

The news of the crack in the Acela Express couldn't have come at a worse time for those hoping for the revival of passenger rail in the U.S. But having served on the Amtrak Reform Council which studied Amtrak for four years, I wasn't surprised. For years, Amtrak maintained the fiction that it was on a smooth glide path to self-sufficiency. Hardly.

The railroad's board of directors and former CEO pandered to those in Congress who felt that Amtrak, like no other form of transportation, should sink or swim on its own. Rather...